Inauguration of Leang-Leang Archaeological Park, Sulawesi

 VOI - Waktunya Merevolusi Pemberitaan 14 Jan 2025 had this article "Symbol Of World's Oldest Civilization In The Archipelago, Minister Fadli Zon Inaugurates Leang-Leang Archaeological Park". 

"The Minister of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, Fadli Zon, inaugurated the Leang-Leang Archological Park and the Prehistoric Image Information Center in the Maros-Pangkep karst area, South Sulawesi. This inauguration is a symbol of the Ministry of Culture's commitment to preserving cultural heritage, as well as affirming the position of the archipelago as the center of the oldest civilization in the world."

See article to read more.

Panching snail featured in book on extinction

" Lost Wonders: 10 Tales of Extinction from the 21st Century" by Tom Lathan et al was published by Picador in Sept 2024. It features 10 species that have become extinct since the turn on the 21st century. And one of those species is the Bukit Panching snail, from Pahang, Malaysia.

See more here.

Mulu ISCA conference 2024

 

The 2024 International Show Cave Association Conference will be held in Mulu National Park, 28 September – 6 October. There will be pre- and post conference activities and trips. See more on ISCA  Vol 24 July-Aug newsletter and Vol 25 Sept-Oct newsletter. This will be the first ISCA conference in SE Asia.

See more on ISCA.

And see Archives 2024 on my webpage for media links.

Sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur 2024

On 23 Aug 2024 an 8 m deep sinkhole suddenly opened in Jalan Masjid India, in Kuala Lumpur. A visitor from India fell in. A major search and rescue operation began but still hadn't found her 6 days later. The Fire and Rescue Department's scuba unit were involved.

Photo from The Star 26 Aug - 

27 Aug sniffer dogs were used to try and find the victim. "Two English Springer Spaniel dogs are being brought in to assist in locating the victim due to their excellent detection capabilities in the water.". And four people from Indian NGOs conducted religious rites to aid the search in finding the victim. Yellow chrysanthemums will be released into the river as a form of offering to the victim (The Sun 28 Aug). 

Meanwhile another sinkhole opened early on 28 Aug, about 50 m from the first one.

On 30 Aug, the 8th day, the efforts were to clear a backlog or 15-metre blockage. Later the search at the sinkhole was halted but will continue at the Pantai Dalam IWK sewage plant.

The search for the victim was called off on the 9th day, Sat 31 Aug 2024, The Star report. 

Niah Cave now a World Heritage Site

 In July 2024 the Niah Caves Complex in Sarawak, Malaysia, was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. See UNESCO page. 

There were many reports in the media. See my blog for links to some of them.

Gunung Kanthan monastery petition video

 Gunung Kanthan's Last Defence : Save the Monastery, Save Gunung Kanthan (For Petition).

The video has been reloaded on youtube and can be seen here.

Sulawesi rock art older than previously thought

Some very exciting news about cave art was released in early July 2024. An article in Nature, 03 July 2024, about the cave art at Maros-Pangkep, Sulawesi, Indonesia. It has been re-dated using laser-ablation U-series imaging, giving a result of over 51,200 years. So this makes it the oldest known narrative rock art showing human-animal interactions. This predates similar European art. 

Previous dating was based on solution uranium-series (U-series) analysis of calcite deposits overlying rock art in the limestone caves of Maros-Pangkep. There a hunting scene from Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4, was originally dated using the previous approach to a minimum of 43,900 years ago. The new technique gives a minimum age of 50.2 ± 2.2 ka, so is at least 4,040 years older than thought.

Also "a newly described cave art scene at Leang Karampuang. Painted at least 51,200 years ago, this narrative composition, which depicts human-like figures interacting with a pig, is now the earliest known surviving example of representational art, and visual storytelling, in the world."

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See my other blogs on Indonesian rock art

Oldest cave art again found in Indonesia        Jan 2021

Sulawesi cave paintings now older than first thought   Oct 2014

Cave of Hands, Leang Leang, Maros, Sulawesi   Nov 2011

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For a long list of media references to the new dating, see SEAArch .